Lots of reasons Falcons are still soaring

When a team rallies from a one-game deficit and comes back to sweep two games and advance to the state tournament, there are usually a lot of elements to the storyline. That was certainly the case Friday afternoon, as the Bushland Falcons beat Sonora twice in the Region I-2A baseball final to reach their third straight state tournament.

As such, there were a lot of compelling subplots aside from Gerald Reyna winning two games which didn't make or get true justice in the story I wrote which appeared in Saturday's dead tree edition of the Globe-News. Digital media has no such time or space constraints, so here are some highlights and accomplishments, among other things, which deserve some recognition.

_ The Falcons had a big day hitting the ball, racking up double digits in hits in both games. In the first game, an 8-3 win, sophomore Collin Smith drove in three runs while senior Nick Welch drove in two.

_ Another big performance at the plate in the second game came from senior Geoffrey Weiss on the bench. Weiss was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs, getting things started with a pinch hit single in a five-run fourth inning which tied the game.

_ The way Bushland's lineup has been set up for the playoffs, Weiss starts the first game at third base, then in the second game Smith moves from catcher to third and Weiss goes to the bench. After the series, Weiss, who played in all three games of the series, pointed out that it was the first game two of a playoff series he'd been in this season.

_ In the third game, an 8-5 win, the Falcons may have had their best hitting performance of the postseason so far, pounding out 15 hits. Every hitter in the Bushland lineup had at least one hit, while the top four hitters in the lineup, sophomores Blane Barnett, Colter Cornelius, Smith and senior Welch all had two hits. Reyna, the No. 6 hitter, also had two hits.

_ Of course, a team doesn't make it this far without a little good fortune. In the bottom of the second, Sonora took a 1-0 lead on Bushland starter Barnett, who'd lost the first game the day before after being unable to get out of the first inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Sonora's John Lopez hit a fly ball to deep center which Colter Cornelius tracked down at the warning track. Clayton Parks, standing on third, could have trotted home for a run, but instead took off far too early, and was easily doubled up at third. Barnett got out of the jam with no further runs, and Bushland took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the next inning.

_ As of this writing, the Class 2A state tournament field was half set. Brock won Region II-2A. That's the same Brock team which was undefeated in 2010 and who Bushland upset in the state semifinal that year.